Was there a prankster loose in the Samuel Goldwyn theatre this morning? Did someone switch the envelopes? If so, it would explain a lot. At 5.38am, Pacific time, the starchy Academy president ambled on stage accompanied by last year's Best Supporting Actress winner to rubber-stamp what the world already knew would be the main contenders for this year's Oscars. Instead, they read out a list that - if not revolutionary exactly - offered a more daring and ambitious array than anyone could have anticipated.

True, many of the names were familiar. It was the balance that was so wonderfully off-message. By the end of the announcement, industry insiders were reeling from the news that Lord of the Rings - a fantasy film that many had consigned to a genre ghetto - was leading the field with 13 nominations. Meanwhile the hotly-tipped A Beautiful Mind shared joint second place (eight nominations) with Moulin Rouge, the first musical to be nominated for Best Picture in more than 20 years. And for the first time ever, two black actors (Will Smith and Denzel Washington) are in the running for Best Actor.

Elsewhere there were more surprises. Like the inclusion of wild-card film-maker David Lynch among the Best Director candidates (nominated, incidentally, for what is arguably his wildest movie to date). Or the appearance in the same category of Robert Altman; another notoriously maverick talent who recently managed the rare feat of enraging both middle America and the Hollywood establishment with his attacks on George Bush and American disaster movies since September 11. And is it just us, or is there a ludicrously large number of Brits among the nominations? Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Kate Winslet, Ridley Scott, Ben Kingsley, Chris Nolan, Julian Fellowes, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen: all of them will be vying for top honours on March 24.

For the moment, then, this is a time to bask in a rare demonstration of imagination, risk and good taste from the 5,000 or so faceless voters of the Academy. Remember that these are the same idiots who handed the Best Actor award for two years running to Tom Hanks, and who gave it to Russell Crowe for Gladiator when his performance in The Insider was so clearly the better acting job. Normally I want to grab these drones by the dicky-bows and force them to sit down in front of a proper movie. On this occasion I feel like applauding them.

It can't last, of course. Come March 24 the old order will surely be restored and the predicted winners will preeningly take to the stage to collect their statues. Or possibly not. Because this year's nominations have already raised the prospect of some surprise victors on the night (Lord of the Rings for Best Film, perhaps). That can only be good for Hollywood, good for the industry as a whole, and good for the short-changed punters who camp out in front of the telly every Oscar night hoping for something more than the usual stage-managed celebrity love-in. This year, at long last, we might have some real drama to look forward to.